Many types of cleaning compositions have been developed to clean various types of products and/or surfaces. Some of these cleaning compositions included one or more compounds to disinfect, sanitize, and/or sterilize the product and/or surface. The present invention relates to a cleaning composition that includes at least one cationic biocide such as, but not limited to, quaternary ammonium salts (“quats”) as the anti-microbial active. The cleaning composition can include other traditional anti-microbial actives such as, but not limited to, one or more acids and/or alcohols. In addition, the cleaning composition also includes one or more surfactants and one or more solvents which together provide excellent cleaning efficacy with low levels of residue and little to no visible streaking and filming on the surface being treated. Other traditional cleaning compositions with good cleaning efficacy and low levels of visible residue contain higher levels of VOC solvents, for example between 1-40% by weight of the composition. The cleaning composition is envisioned as being used in a wide variety of applications. As can be appreciated, the additives, the surfactants, the solvents and the cationic biocides used in the cleaning compositions, may vary depending on the particular application of the cleaning composition.
One type of biocide that has been used in cleaning wipes is quaternary amines or “quats”. Liquid cleaners applied to cleaning wipes typically include relatively large amounts of quat. These cleaning wipes are typically used on hard surfaces such as floors, countertops, glass surfaces, sinks, toilets, appliances, and/or the like. Although quats are excellent biocides, quats can cause skin irritation when used in too high of concentrations. In addition, not all of the quat may be released from the wipe when the wipe is applied to a surface, thus added quat is included in the liquid cleaner to ensure that the desired amount of quat transfers to the cleaned surface. Other biocides such as biguanide compounds also have a low release rate from the wipe. Since the quat and/or biguanide compound is typically one of the higher cost components of the cleaner, the larger quat and/or biguanide concentrations used in the liquid cleaner translates into higher product costs. There have been various attempts to develop liquid cleaners having improved quat release from the cleaning wipes. Some cleaning formulations use a high weight percentage of VOCs to promote quat release from the cleaning wipe. It has been observed that isopropyl alcohol in amounts of over about 12% can improve the quat release from the wipe. The use of isopropyl alcohol is also beneficial in that the alcohol has its own antimicrobial properties and cost substantially less than quats. Although the use of isopropyl alcohol in the cleaning formulation improves quat release from the wipe, a substantial amount of quat still remains on the cleaning wipe after use. In addition, local, state and/or federal governments have begun to promulgate regulations on the amount of VOCs can be used in cleaners. As a result, cleaners having high concentrations (e.g. greater than 0.5% by weight of the composition) of VOCs may be less preferred.
In addition, quats also tend to leave residues and/or cause streaking after being applied to various surfaces. The residue and streaking problems are of great concern to consumers since the visual appearance of the cleaned surface functions as an indicator of the effectiveness of the cleaner. Consumers also judge the cleaning effectiveness of the cleaner by touching the cleaned surface. Sticky surfaces typically indicate to the consumer that the surface has not been effectively cleaned. Cleaning formulations that tend to leave residues and/or cause streaking tend to produce a less shiny, thus a visually perceived less clean surface, and further tend to leave a sticky surface. This is especially true with mop and pre-loaded wipe applications, where such compositions are left to dry on the surface without rinsing. As a result, the consumer perceives that the cleaned surface has not been effectively cleaned irrespective of the fact the surface may have been properly cleaned and disinfected. Liquid cleaners having high quat content are also subject to various local, state and/or federal regulations due to the toxicity of the quat in high concentrations.
In view of the present state of the art of cleaning compositions, there is a demand for a low VOC formulation with excellent cleaning efficacy that can be used in a variety of applications to disinfect, sanitize, and/or sterilize surfaces without leaving undesired residues and/or streaking on the cleaned surface, and/or which cleaning composition is cost effective to use.